"On Tuesday night, BP said that the 'active cleanup' of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill had been brought 'to a close.' Later Tuesday night, the Coast Guard said the response to the spill isn’t over yet, 'not by a long shot.'

The dueling news releases came out just before the fourth anniversary of the April 20, 2010, blowout on BP’s Macondo well. The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig caught fire and sank, 11 workers were killed and more than 4 million barrels of crude spilled into the gulf.

BP, which has vowed to 'make things right,' said it issued its press release because the Coast Guard ended 'patrols and operations' along the final three miles of Louisiana shoreline, capping a four-year effort that BP said cost more than $14 billion."

Steven Mufson reports for the Washington Post April 16, 2014. [2]